
- Dutch
- Frisian
- Afrikaans
- Dutch
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
- Frisian
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Afrikaans
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
In order to describe the movement or shift of nominal arguments in the middle field (MF) of a clause, the neutral or default order will be taken to be one in which the presupposition, topic or discourse-old information is located before the clause adverbials, and the focus, comment or discourse-new informationafter the clause adverbials.
When in MF, the subject follows verb-first or verb-second (V1 or V2) position or a complementiser, without the intervention of other constituents, be they arguments, complementives or adverbials, e.g.
a. | Het <*inderdaad> Ansie <inderdaad> 'n vlieglisensie? | ||||||||||||||
have.PRS <indeed> Ansie <indeed> a pilot's.license | |||||||||||||||
Does Ansie indeed have a pilot's license? |
b. | André vra of <*inderdaad> Ansie <inderdaad> 'n vlieglisensie het. | ||||||||||||||
André ask.PRS if.COMP <indeed> Ansie <indeed> a pilot's.license have.PRS | |||||||||||||||
André asks whether Ansie does indeed have a pilot's license. |
The direct object (DO) can be positioned before or after clause adverbials. When the DO is a given or discourse-old information, as in (2a), it will be located before clause adverbials such as tog after all, and an appropriate question with (2a) as answer would explicitly mention the DO, as in (2b).
a. | Dit lyk asof hy die wrak tog gaan verkoop. | ||||||||||||||
it seem as.if.CNJ he the wreck after.all go.AUX.MOD sell.INF | |||||||||||||||
It seems as though he is going to sell the wreck after all. |
b. | Wat gaan André met die wrak maak? | ||||||||||||||
what go.AUX.MOD André with the wreck make.INF | |||||||||||||||
What is André going to do with the wreck? |
No crossover of subject and object NPs is possible, as shown in (3).
*dat haar André beslis hulp belowe het |
that.COMP her André definitely help promise.PST.PTCP have.AUX |
To mean: that André definitely promised her help. |
In a clause with neutral or default ordering and stress, the new information will be situated after the clause adverbials, in non-verbal constituents such as objects, complementives and VP adverbials, as in (4a) and, in their absence, in the final lexical verb, as in (4b).
a. | dat Anja moontlik die tol betaal het. | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP Anja possibly the toll pay.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that Anja possibly paid toll. |
b. | dat Anja die tol moontlik BETAAL het. | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP Anja the toll possibly pay.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that Anja possibly paid toll. |
The location of discourse-new information is easily altered by applying contrastive stress, as in:
dat Anja die TOL moontlik betaal het. |
that.COMP Anja the toll possibly pay.PST.PTCP have.AUX |
that Anja possibly paid toll. |
For more information, please refer to:
In this section the relative order of nominal arguments and clause adverbials such as waarskynlik probably is discussed. Broekhuis et al. (2015:1608-1609) assume that all nominal arguments arise in the lexical domain, i.e. to the right of the clause adverbial(s) from where those referring to new information shift to the functional domain to the left of the clause adverbials in the middle field (MF), having been base-generated in the lexical domain. In the present discussion it will only be assumed that in a neutral order nominal arguments displaying discourse-old information are generally found before or to the left of clause adverbials in MF, whereas those expressing discourse-new information occur after or to the right of clause adverbials.
In Afrikaans the subject is consistently juxtaposed to verb-first (V1), as in (6a) (where it can therefore only follow V1), or to verb-second (V2), where it either occurs before V2, as in (6b), or directly after V2, as in (6c), or directly after a complementiser, as in (6d). In (6a), (6c) and (6d) the subject is therefore the first constituent of MF.
a. | Het Ansie 'n rekenaar? | ||||||||||||||
have.PRS Ansie a computer | |||||||||||||||
Does Ansie have a computer? |
b. | Ansie het uiteindelik 'n rekenaar. | ||||||||||||||
Ansie have.PRS at.last a computer | |||||||||||||||
Ansie does at last have a computer. |
c. | Uiteindelik het Ansie 'n rekenaar. | ||||||||||||||
at.last have.PRS Ansie a computer | |||||||||||||||
At last Ansie has a computer. |
d. | dat Ansie uiteindelik 'n rekenaar het. | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP Ansie at.last a computer have.PRS | |||||||||||||||
that Ansie has a computer at last. |
The phrase die nuwe rekenaar the new computer appears before the clause adverbial waarskynlik probably in (7a), and therefore refers to a particular computer which the speaker is familiar with, i.e. old information in the discourse context. It is an instrument which Albert is known to have access to, hence discourse-old information. However, in (7b), where die nuwe rekenaar appears after the clause adverbial, the thrust of the clause is that Albert chooses to make use of the new computer specifically. The computer therefore represents discourse-new information.
a. | Hulle sê dat Albert die nuwe rekenaar waarskynlik gaan gebruik. | ||||||||||||||
they say that.COMP Albert the new computer probably go.AUX.MOD use.INF | |||||||||||||||
They say that Albert is going to use the new computer probably. |
b. | Hulle sê dat Albert waarskynlik die nuwe rekenaar gaan gebruik. | ||||||||||||||
they say that.COMP Albert probably the new computer go.AUX.MOD use.INF | |||||||||||||||
They say that Albert is probably going to use the new computer. |
The information structure of a clause can be gauged by formulating an appropriate question. Thus the sentences in (7) would be adequate responses to the questions posed in (8a) and (8b) respectively.
a. | Wat gaan Albert met die nuwe rekenaar maak? | ||||||||||||||
what go.AUX.MOD Albert with the new computer make.INF | |||||||||||||||
What is Albert going to do with the new computer? |
b. | Watter apparaat gaan Albert gebruik? | ||||||||||||||
which appliance go.AUX.MOD Albert use.INF | |||||||||||||||
What appliance is Albert going to make use of? |
The Afrikaans subject and object have the following ordering constraints:
- As mentioned earlier, the subject is never separated by non-verbal material from V1 and V2, as is the case in (9a) and (9ai), respectively. This goes for any subject, whether definite or not and whether generic or not, e.g. 'n agent an agent, die agent the agent or agente agents.
- Apart from object topicalisation, subject and object always occur in subject > object order, and never cross over, as in (9b).
a. | *Gister het die kode <waarskynlik> 'n agent <waarskynlik> ontsyfer. | ||||||||||||||
yesterday have.AUX the code <probably> an agent <probably> crack.PST.PTCP | |||||||||||||||
To mean: Yesterday an agent probably cracked the code. |
a. | *Het miskien 'n agent die kode ontsyfer? |
have.AUX perhaps an agent the code crack.PST.PTCP | |
To mean: Has an agent perhaps cracked the code? |
a.' | *Gister het waarskynlik 'n agent die kode ontsyfer. |
yesterday have.AUX probably an agent the code crack.PST.PTCP | |
To mean: An agent probably cracked the code yeaterday. |
Three default structures combining information structure, ordering and stress placement are posited as exmples (1) to (12) in the light of the following considerations:
- The subject, which is sy she in the examples below, is not separable from the complementiser (or otherwise from V1 and V2).
- Discourse-old information or presuppositions typically occur before a clause adverbial, such as dalk perhaps, in the MF, while discourse-new information containing the clausal focus would form part of the section after a clause adverbial.
- A pronoun, such as dit it, is semantically less suitable as a carrier of new information and would therefore generally occur before the clause adverbial.
- An indefinite NP is typically a carrier of new information and would therefore tend to occur after a clause adverbial.
- Main sentence stress is usually placed on a non-verbal component immediately preceding the final lexical verb (FV), and in the absence of such component, on FV itself.
- The focus, i.e. the section referring to new information, may be transferred to the another component such as the subject of the clause through the replacement of sentence stress by contrastive stress.
In example (10) the indefinite NP'n geheime kode a secret code is the focus and receives sentence stress naturally in that position.
dat sy dalk'n geheime kode ontsyfer het |
that.COMP she perhaps a secret code crack.PST.PTCP have.AUX |
that she perhaps cracked a secret code. |
In example (11a) it is shown that the definite NPdie geheime code the secret code can appear afterdalk as the focus of new information, in which case it also bears sentence stress, or before dalk as old information, creating an opportunity for the lexical past participle, ontsyfer cracked, to receive sentence stress, as in (11b).
a. | dat sy dalkdie geheime kode ontsyfer het | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP she perhaps the secret code crack.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that she perhaps cracked the secret code. |
b. | dat sy die geheime kode dalkontsyfer het | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP she the secret code perhaps crack.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that she perhaps cracked the secret code. |
In example (12) both subject and object precede dalk as discourse-old information, and the way is paved for the past participle of the final lexical verb, ontsyfer, to receive sentence stress.
dat sy dit / die geheime kode dalkontsyfer het. |
that.COMP she it the secret code perhaps crack.PST.PTCP have.AUX |
that she perhaps cracked it / the secret code. |
If the direct and indirect object are NPs, the only possible order is indirect object (IO) > direct object (DO), irrespective of their placement vis-à-vis a clause adverbial such as dalk perhaps. If the IO is an NP, it has to be placed before (i.e. to the left of) the clause adverbial, as in (13a). If the IO is a PP, e.g. vir Anna / haar for Anna / her, it can occur before or after the clause adverbial, as in (13b). A cross-over of arguments, i.e. DO > IO, is only possible if the IO is a PP, as in (13c). In general, a pronoun such as dit it is slightly marked when positioned after a clause adverbial.
a. | dat hy <*dalk> Anna/haar <dalk> die kode / dit <dalk> gegee het. | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP he <perhaps> Anna/her <perhaps> the code / it <perhaps> give.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that he perhaps gave Anna/her the code / gave it to Anna/ her. |
b. | dat hy <dalk> vir Anna / vir haar <dalk> die kode / dit <dalk> gegee het. | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP he <perhaps> for Anna / for her <perhaps> the code / it <perhaps> give.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that he perhaps gave Anna/her the code / gave it to Anna/her. |
c. | dat hy <dalk> die kode / dit <dalk> vir Anna / vir haar <?dalk> gegee het. | ||||||||||||||
that.COMP he <perhaps> the code/it <perhaps> for Anna / for her <perhaps> give.PST.PTCP have.AUX | |||||||||||||||
that he perhaps gave Anna/her the code / gave it to Anna/her. |
Even in passives, where an IO can precede the passive subject in Dutch, the sequence IO > SUB is unlikely as the IO assumes subject characteristics in the Afrikaans passive, cf. (14b).
a. | dat 'n sertifikaat Anna / haar dalk aangebied sal word. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[dat [(SUB) 'n sertifikaat] [(IO) Anna/haar] dalk aangebied sal word] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
that.COMP a certificate Anna/her perhaps offer.PST.PTCP will.AUX.MOD be.AUX.PASS.PRS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
That a certificate will perhaps be offered to Anna / her. |
b. | dat Anna/sy/*haar dalk 'n sertifikaat aangebied sal word. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[dat [(SUB) Anna / sy] dalk [(DO) 'n sertifikaat] aangebied sal word. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
that.COMP Anna/she perhaps a certificate offer.PST.PTCP will.AUX.MOD be.AUX.PASS.PRS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
that Anna/she will perhaps be offered a certificate. |
- Broekhuis, Hans, Corver, Norbert & Vos, Riet2015Syntax of Dutch. Verbs and verb phrasesComprehensive grammar resourcesAmsterdam University Press
